David Hawthorne hasn't said much this season. Among the New Orleans
Saints linebackers, he's sometimes the forgotten one. His production has been
relatively quiet, too.

This isn't quite what he signed up for.

When Hawthorne signed on with the Saints in free agency this past
offseason, he did so with the anticipation of being the Saints' starting
weak side linebacker.

But since returning from a hamstring injury in Week 9, Hawthorne has
rarely gotten to take snaps on the weak side. Instead, he's had to learn to
play strong-side linebacker, a position Hawthorne, who was used mostly as a
middle linebacker throughout the first four years of his career, was unfamiliar
with.

"It's usually a certain body type, a bigger, longer taller kinda guy," the 6-foot, 246-pound Hawthorne said of the prototypical strong-side linebacker. "It's a different style of play. It's a different vantage point, you just see the
game from a different angle and that takes some getting used to. You play blocks differently. You are on the
line of scrimmage so everything happens a little quicker. It just takes some
learning and adjusting."

Saints interim coach Joe Vitt said Hawthorne is adapting well.

"Through all those things he has stayed positive and worked hard," Vitt said. "He'll look at me every once in a while and
give me that look of hey 'I wasn't brought in here as a (strong-side
linebacker).' Then I look back at him and say hey, 'I wasn't brought in here as
an interim head coach either.'

"You play the hand you are dealt. He's done a good job of doing that.
And all that's going to do is make him a better player."

Hawthorne, who has 31 tackles in seven games, said he'll continue to
adapt to the position change.

But Hawthorne could find himself in an interesting situation this
offseason. The Saints signed him to a five-year, $19 million contract,
including a $3.8 million signing bonus in the offseason.

Although there have been no signs that the Saints are unhappy with his
production, the front office could decide to re-evaluate Hawthorne's contract.
He is due a $3 million roster bonus this offseason and his cap number for next
season is $4.7 million in 2013.

"It's a learning process," Hawthorne said. "Every week I learn a little
more and get more comfortable in it."

Hawthorne played on the weak side throughout training camp and opened
the season there. But by the time he returned from the hamstring injury that
shelved him for five games, Jonathan Vilma had been activated from the
physically-unable-to-perform list and inserted on the weak side.

Hawthorne had to learn a new position.

"I've never really been at that position before," Hawthorne said. "I've
never really thought about playing at that position. I always that of that
position as one that was not for myself. But there comes a point in time when
you have to do what's best for the team, and I feel like me playing that role
right now is what's best for the team.

"I'm comfortable to a certain extent, once it just becomes football.
There are things I haven't seen at that position that come up sometimes. But I
just have to kinda put it in the memory bank and roll with it, and just do what
I can to help the team."